Exodus 23:21

Summary

The verse commands the addressee to be on guard before a figure referred to only as "him," to obey his voice, and warns against provoking him, because he will not forgive transgression, since the divine name is within him.

Key words

• hiShamer ("take care", H8104J) — Niphal imperative, giving the command a reflexive/passive nuance: "guard yourself" rather than a simple active "watch."
• taMer ("you cause bitterness", H4843) — Hiphil imperfect, a causative form; the subject actively produces bitterness or rebellion against the other party, distinct from a simple "to be bitter."
• yiSa' ("he will forgive", H5375I) — Qal imperfect of a verb whose base meaning is "to lift/carry"; here rendered "forgive," it describes future/ongoing refusal to lift the offense.
• pish'a ("transgression", H6588) — masculine singular construct, "transgression of," bound to the following pronominal suffix kem ("your," H9026), forming "your transgression."
• shemi ("name", H8034) — masculine singular construct, "name of," bound to the suffix i ("my," H9020), forming "my name," the subject of the closing clause.

What the text says

The verse is built from two paired imperative clauses followed by two causal clauses introduced by ki ("for/that", H3588A). The first pair, hiShamer mi-panav ("take care from his presence/before him") and u-shema' be-qolo ("and listen to his voice"), uses the Niphal form of shamar to frame vigilance as something done to oneself, while shema' in the Qal simply commands attentive obedience. The prohibition al-tamer bo ("do not cause bitterness in him") employs the Hiphil of marar, a causative stem indicating that the addressee would actively produce a bitter or rebellious reaction in the other party, not merely feel bitterness.

The two ki clauses supply the grounds for obedience. The first, ki lo' yisa' le-fish'akhem ("for he will not forgive your transgression"), uses nasa' ("to lift/carry", H5375I) in the sense of removing guilt — the negation lo' plus imperfect marks a continuing refusal. The second, ki shemi be-qirbo ("for my name is within him"), lacks an explicit verb "to be" in Hebrew; the preposition be- ("in", H9003) plus qirbo ("within him", H7130G) constructs a locative statement that the name resides inside the referent, without any additional verb needed in Hebrew syntax.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew al-tamer bo ("do not cause bitterness/rebel against him") is rendered in the LXX as mē apeithei autō ("do not disobey him"), a more general term for disobedience rather than provoking bitterness. The Vulgate gives nec contemnendum putes ("do not think him to be despised"), shifting the sense toward disdain rather than provocation.

The clause ki lo' yisa' le-fish'akhem ("for he will not forgive your transgression") appears in the LXX as ou gar mē hyposteilētai se ("for he will surely not draw back from you"), which diverges from the Hebrew's language of forgiveness toward a notion of not yielding or withdrawing. The Vulgate's non dimittet cum peccaveris ("he will not release/forgive when you have sinned") stays closer to the Hebrew sense of withholding pardon.

Finally, be-qirbo ("within him") is rendered ep' autō ("upon him") in the LXX and in illo ("in him") in the Vulgate, both preserving a locative sense but varying between "within" and "upon."